Current Philly Airbnb Climate

[Mike Eichler]

Hey all, if you are like me you are Airbnb'ing in the Philly market and have recently been hearing a lot of different things about the new rules and regulations being put on STR in Philly. Wanted to give an update from my perspective and see if you guys have any input on things.

Here is where we are at, we were first told that regulations would go into effect in july, making it so that if you wanted to Airbnb your place you'd have to most importantly have that property as your primary residence, or else you could not rent it for less than 30 day periods at a time, you were also told that you would have to get a lodging license to rent which you can only get one and it would have to be your primary residence, (the one on your driver's license). This is hard for many owners because it means that anyone who has multiple properties would only be allowed to choose one of their many properties to keep Airbnb'ing out for STR. This all could be negated if you were lucky enough to have scooped yourself a CMX-3 or higher zoned property back when you purchased.

The regulations have recently been pushed to the start of Jan 1 of 2023, which is a sigh of relief for a lot of owners, giving them some more time to figure out just exactly what they want to do. Now it will leave owners with some options, will they convert to long term? will owners start to sell off some of their portfolio? Will they move to new markets completely with fewer regulations?

Lots of questions up in the air, and lots of decisions for everyone involved. One big question I have is what kind of enforcement Airbnb and the Philly regulators will have in this, can they enforce it if Airbnb does not comply with them, and will this cause a major sell-off in the Philly market from investors? who knows we can only wait to find out.

Let me know your guy's thoughts on these pressing issues.